Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin hold first conversation and vow new US-Russia partnership to tackle international terrorism

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke for the first time on Monday night and vowed to establish a new relationship between the US and Russia based on "mutual respect", the Kremlin has announced.

The Russian president and US president-elect agreed to "assess the current unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations", develop trade and economic ties and establish joint efforts to fight international terrorism.

Agreeing to stay in regular contact, and arrange a face-to-face meeting soon, Mr Putin wished Mr Trump "success in the implementation of the pre-election programme, and noted his willingness to build a partnership dialogue with the new administration on the principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other".

Watch | Putin congratulates Trump on US election victory

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Mr Trump said after the call he was looking forward to "a strong and enduring relationship with Russia".

The Russian leader had sent a telegram to Mr Trump the morning after his victory last week, congratulating him and stating he hoped "for cooperation in ending a crisis in Russian-American relations".

The two had never spoken before, despite praising each other during the presidential campaign.

Mr Trump told the Wall Street Journal that his administration will prioritise defeating Isil in Syria rather than removing President Bashar al-Assad.

"I've had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria. My attitude was you're fighting Syria, Syria is fighting ISIS, and you have to get rid of ISIS," he said.

“Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria. Now we're backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who these people are."

Mr Trump will take office on Jan 20, replacing Barack Obama whose relations with Mr Putin have become tense over various issues including Syria and Ukraine.